Field of the Disclosure
Disclosed herein is a latch for a swinging gate or a sliding gate. More particularly, there is disclosed a gate latch for use with a safety fence surrounding a roof access hatch.
Description of Related Art
Safety regulations require that scuttles, or roof access hatches, provide some means of protecting workers on a roof from inadvertently falling through an open hatch. One method of protection is to surround the hatch with a safety railing or a safety fence to assist workers accessing the roof via the scuttle and to prevent workers on the roof from inadvertently falling through an open hatch. The distance from the roof to the top floor of a building may be on the order of 30 feet or more, so a secure safety system is required. One such safety system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,931,793, titled “Roof Scuttle Safety Railing System, to Joyce et al. that is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Safety regulations further require that a gate latch on the safety railing or safety fence surrounding a roof scuttle be able to withstand a force of at least 200 pounds without opening. Prudent engineering design practices commonly utilize a safety factor of two. Therefore, the latching mechanism should be capable of supporting a static load of 400 pounds. Commercial requirements further require that the gate latch be suitable for use with all three of: swinging gates that open to the right; swinging gates that open to the left; and sliding gates. Conventional gate latches, typically stamped from sheet metal are unlikely to be able to withstand 400 pounds of force. There remains a need for a gate latch, particularly suitable for use with roof scuttles, that meets both these safety regulations and commercial requirements.